Gathering the necessary seed funding to get your venture off the ground can be a challenge. That’s why Black Girl Vision created the “Boss Up” pitch competition — a “for us by us” shot at funding for ventures run by women of color.

It’s a very cool concept. Black Girl Vision holds monthly networking events and classes to which they sell tickets. A portion of the proceeds from these tickets goes into what the organization calls a “vision fund” — then once per quarter the organization puts on a pitch competition where female entrepreneurs compete to win the fund. Only women of color are eligible to pitch, but anyone can join the judging community to help decide who should walk away with the money.

Boss Up is an innovative twist on the traditional pitch competition — it introduces an element of crowdfunding as well. And the next edition is coming right up on Saturday, March 18 at MakeOffices on K Street.